it’s been a hectic few weeks. we survived our uk
trip! we had a lot of fun but i’m thinking the days of
all four of us trapped in a tiny motel/hotel room for
11 days may be in the past. the bubs are only getting
bigger and more rambunctious! i hid out in the lounge
most of the night in my pajamas with a book. haha!

i was able to spend my 38th birthday in london with
my bff eating and shopping! best birthday ever! it’s been
so long since i’ve spent my birthday with friends, much
less my actual birthday with my bff. it was a real treat. 8)

i’m afraid i don’t take many fotos during my london jaunts
anymore. i’ve taken so many fotos these last 15 years i’ve
been visiting. so here’s just a few to share with you.

*we spent most of the time in the countryside
near the sea. the tide was out most mornings, and the
locals would come out with galoshes on and a bucket digging
sea snails (?) from the ground to eat!

*one of many english breakfasts i had while there.
i’m afraid to step on the scale since my return. i had lots
of pastries too! love the english bakeries. (at least i hate bacon,
so i didn’t eat any of those. =) i tried black (blood) pudding for
the first time and really liked it. i think it’s pig’s blood? (it’s the
black round patty on the plate.)

*i admired the beautiful stained glass windows at
london’s natural history museum.

*munchkin especially enjoyed the dinosaur exhibits. here
he meets a real live moving t-rex.

*we also took the bubs to the Tower of London. there was a
period re-enactment outside the walls which was very entertaining.

finally, congratulations to bonnie for winning my original
bird with plum blossoms painting for the great movie poster she
made for the Fury Meets Mad Men contest! she describes the movie
poster in her own words:

I’m sure you can guess who everyone is, but at the forefront, we have Silver Phoenix and Zhong Ye; in the background, we have an image of Ai Ling (okay, I know her necklace isn’t magical anymore, but…!) and Chen Yong on the ship. I wanted to feature both couples because unlike SP, Fury is very much about both couples. SP & ZY have a more tragic, immediate, grabbing story that looks best at the forefront.

i love it, bonnie! thank you so much!
i hope you enjoy the brush painting too. =D

and the runner up is eve with this “pitch”:

Fury of the Phoenix: A Love Across Centuries and Worlds

eve’s prize is two brush art cards of her choice!

thank you so much for those of you who entered this contest!

also, our reading challenge has been extended to 10/1!
LIBRARIANS and BLOGGERS! it’s not too late to join and win
over 50 rad diverse middle grade and young adult novels!
check out the details here.

until next time!

i came back yesterday on a very nice delta flight
in which i totally lucked out and got an aisle exit row
and slept for most of the way. landed, then proceeded to
go immediately to chinese school with my bubs. no rest
for the wicked and what not. 8)

malinda and i were most definitely on Diversity Tour
Amazing Race and were just glad we survived and made
it to each event safely.

despite the frenetic madness and exhaustion, we are both
so pleased and proud for the turnouts at our tour stops.
great discussion, great readers and bloggers and writers
and friends all turned out to support us, all our authors
and some fantastic books. i estimate that we had over 300
peeps attend throughout the week, and that is simply
*tremendous*. thank you thank you thank you! <3

this saturday, i fly again to nyc for BEA. i’ll be at the
SLJ Pre-BEA Day of Dialog (5/23). my panel is at 9.15am with
authors malinda lo, rita williams-garcia and paul griffin,
moderated by liz burns. then i’ll be signing Fury on tuesday
(5/24) at 10.30pm. i’ll be tweeting @cindypon so follow me
to keep posted! =D

now, without further prattle, let me share fotos from our
first kick off event at the san francisco public library. it
was such a fantastic and fun way to kick off the tour!!

*our awesome audience! people trickled in after event started
and they had to add four more rows of chairs to accommodate!

*one of the first friends i said hello to! sarina has been an
online friend for… a decade probably. but i only met her for
the first time in 2009 for my SF Silver Phoenix signing. she drove
in from sacramento again to attend our panel. it was lovely to see
you sarina (who is a YA novels fan! =).

*teri is also an online friend, a writing one, who drove in
from sacramento. yay, it was so good to see you again, teri!

*author of Butterfly Swords, jeannie lin, was able to come
too! it was such a lovely surprise. if you’re looking for a fantastic
adventure and romance set in the tang dynasty, read Butterfly Swords!

*and cheryl, author of Breathing, was able to take time
out of a busy saturday to come! she’s a deb and we’ve all
been through so much together. it’s hard to believe it’s only
been two years or so that we’ve known each other!

*how cool is andrea’s shirt? i met andrea at the sirens
con last october and was so happy she could come in from
studies in berkeley!

*the entire panel (jon yang, malinda lo, me and gene yang) with
julia, actual teen! =) she made me laugh because the first thing
she said to me was “you’re a mom right? you’re a pretty cool mom
for reading that passage.” haha! i had read one from zhong ye’s
narrative near the beginning of Fury of the Phoenix.

*our san francisco panel was the only one that had official
sponsors! jon yang, ellen from Kearny St. Workshop, malinda lo,
betsy from San Francisco Public Library, me, gene yang and claire
from the Carl Brandon Society.

after the awesome event, we went to have dinner at LuLu’s. it was
delicious and so fun to unwind and celebrate a successful panel!

*jeannie lin and i shared this fresh made gnnochi (delicious).

*and also these chicken meatballs which were so yum too.
now i’m hungry!

*and finally, the always lovely martha flynn and i pose with
her very jiggly panna cotta (i’m sorry, but it was super jiggly).

sorry my post is totally superficial and mainly fotos (per usual, ha!)
but i’m functioning on two brain cells at the moment. =) for some
great posts about the san francisco diversity stop:

awesome recap by anne nesbet at Enchanted Inkpot

sarah stevenson, author of The Latte Rebellion, also shares
a fantastic recap at Finding Wonderland

malinda lo also posts with a wrap up over at DiYA blog!

that is all for now, darling readers. i hope to do another blog
post before i leave for nyc again this saturday, but can make no
promises. zai jian for now!!

but in the end, i couldn’t have asked for more gorgeous
weather, the Extraordinary Desserts delivered on time,
and so many of my wonderful friends (many fellow writers
and brush artists) came to celebrate with me. thank you!!

i had a fantastic time signing with nancy holder. her third
novel in the Possessions trilogy, The Screaming Season, is out
as well. i really loved The Evil Within, and definitely recommend
this series for those interested in a suspenseful, scary and
twisty read.

*nancy and me before the signing! she wore a gorgeous
jade necklace and i’m debuting the betsy jonhson dress
i love. (which kate at Mysterious Galaxy had to help zip
me up in as no one was at home to do that for me, ha!)

*the spread from Extraordinary Desserts. so yummy.

bernadette is actually a local teen fan! YAY! am always
so thrilled when actual teen readers show up at events.
*waves to bernadette* =D

*keri is a local san diegan writer. she also brought lessa’s
gorgeous diorama so i could display it. everyone thought it
was so cool, and it is! wish you could have made it lessa!

*had the pleasure of meeting another fan, karaline. so happy
you could make it!

all in all, it was a wonderful happy day. i celebrated with my
family after with a delicious italian meal.

currently reading:

Supernaturally by kiersten white

*i was so happy to run into ruta sepetys at the reception.
i can’t wait to read her debut, Between Shades of Gray. also,
thrilled to meet jackie dolamore for the first time. i really
enjoyed Magic Under Glass and am looking forward to Magic
Under Stone.

*i was able to chat with alyson noel for a bit. she
is always saying such lovely things about Silver Phoenix. <3
there are two things you can be certain of when you
meet alyson: 1. she is one of the nicest sweetest people
you will ever meet. 2. she WILL be wearing awesome shoes.

*one of my favorite people, david macinnis gill!
he’s so cool he doesn’t even have to have his eyes open! =D
seriously tho, i always have fun with david–cause he’s
got a quirky sense of humor, like me. ha! (and by quirky,
i mean weird. =)

right after the ALAN reception was the harpercollins
family dinner. thank goodness for laura (a foodie, and
in charge of booking) who got us a wonderful table and
delicious meal at cat cora’s kouzzina. YUM!

*cindy in a genius sandwich! alas, i’m not the genius part.
that would be our fantabulous editor, virginia, and megan
whalen turner.

*appetizers included grilled prawns, lamb meatballs,
various dips and spanich pie with feta, leeks and dill.

*i chose the fisherman’s stew with scallops, fish, shellfish,
fennel, grilled bread and ouzo butter. it was divine!

*i chose the loukoumades, freshly made greek doughnuts
drizzled with warm honey and cinnamon for dessert. i was
so full i had to leave two! =(

the meal was so delicious and the company made it
that much the better. i had so much fun chatting and
laughing i sort of lost my voice by the end of the night.
whoops!

so what do you think so far? that was just the first afternoon
and evening!!

currently reading:

white cat by holly black

i’ve been house bound except for necessary
errands and grocery shopping. today, i decided
to make myself feel better by baking some pumpkin
banana muffins. banana only because there were two
spotty mooshy ones that would be horrific to actually
eat but wonderful to bake with.

as much as i love pastries, i’m not much of a cook,
much less a baker. (the love is head chef, but he’s
too busy these days to cook, boo.) but simple things
like muffins i can deal with. =)

this is an altered recipe i found from smitten kitchen.

ingredients

1 and 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 15 oz can of pumpkin
2 ripe bananas
1/2 cup brown sugar (more if you like sweet)
1/4 cup cooking oil
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
(spices are all optional. i like mine flavorful!)
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp pumpkin spice
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp all spice

the original recipe called for 1 1/4 cup sugar but
i like my baked good less sweet. it also asked for
1/3 cup of oil but my pumpkins were definitely moist
enough with just 1/4 cup.

directions

mix dry stuff together
mix wet stuff together
combine ingredients until mixed
put mixture in cupcake paper cups
Bake at 350F degrees for 25-30 minutes

i made 17 muffins in this batch. =)
the results were very chewy and delicious.
enjoy!

*all dressed up with somewhere to go! =D

hello my lovely blog readers!!

i turn 37 today!! i love the odd number years,
because i love odd numbers in general. but
i’ve been mooching up the birthday loving all over
the internets rather shamelessly. i joke that i have
Summer Birthday Complex. you know. when you get
your lockers decorated on your birthday and balloons
and presents from your bff? me? everyone was gone on
august 29th every summer! no cupcakes to pass out,
no decorated lockers, no love notes from boys. okay,
perhaps the last bit is unrelated. =) OR NOT.

this week was quite a week. my mom visited
and she bought me pretty pewter flats that make my
feet look like boats. and we ate and shopped a lot!
i love my mommy! =)
i turned in my final line edits to my fantabulous
editor. i am so happy with Fury of the Phoenix and
am looking forward to doing copy edits next. we’re
so close!! very exciting.

then…well, then despite other things on my to do list,
i simply napped and read for pleasure a lot. like a lot.
and on saturday, i had my fun secret craft class and
finished another project. had a lovely lunch by myself
with k. a. stewart’s debut, A Devil in the Details. a great
read so far. i also tore through nicole peeler’s sequel
in her tempest series, Tracking the Tempest. so much fun!
i’ll be doing a giveaway soon. and read n. k. jemisin’s
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, which was fantastic!
all recommended. and all read this week! =)

then i had a lovely birthday date night and actually
took the time to dress up. (i usually opt for casual and
lazy, ha!) so note before birthday dinner foto above. =D

the best part of our lovely dinner was the dessert. the
“vietnamese alfogato” was condensed milk ice cream with
coffee nibs, vanilla mochi cubes, drizzled in espresso with
a side of cinnamon fritters, which were basically fresh mini
churros. SO GOOD! i already dug in as usual before taking a foto. =)

today was a nice birthday brunch and reading by the sea.
more relaxation. the bubs are home with me for two weeks
before school starts! then it truly is the end of summer.
and how fast it flew, i can only measure it by revisions i’ve
done. haha! i can’t wait for you to read Fury of the Phoenix! <3

it started with a lunch date with gretchen and
mike at the bread bar. a must every time i’m at scbwi.
i simply love bread and i love their food!! gretchen
just sold Banish, her debut out in 2012 with balzar & bray
about a 15 year old who conducts exorcisms. whoa!
mike, newly agented, has a middle grade humorous
sci-fi novel going on sub soon!

we ordered sliders. a lot of them.
and we ate them happily, while chattering
non-stop. it’s a wonder one of us didn’t choke
on a slider…or a hunk of brie.

amaris, who writes young adult fantasy,
joined us a little later. if i had to do a thought
bubble for mike, it’d be “how the hell did i get
so lucky?” yeah, mike. how did you? haha!

after going on a mini-shopping trip with gretchen,
we headed to the hotel pool where i got to meet
some of the musers for the first. all as delightful and
kooky as i thought they’d be. =D

*me and sophie! i’m her #asianmomstandin! =D

*sagers, hannah, gracie, me, sophie and
debra draped over us.

most of the musers left for a panel
and i hung out by the pool with gracie and jo, who
joined us a little later. that was relaxing and fun to
catch up with one another.

when it got a bit too shady and cool, i wandered into
the lounge and found jacqui, frank, then was joined by
barry and we chatted books for a while. before we knew it,
it was time for our rsb dinner at rock sugar! barry, the only
dude, came along. =)

we decided to go with the tasting menu, and because we
had seven people, wound up getting seventeen dishes.
that’s right, SEVENTEEN. you know what, i’m not even gonna
try to label what we ate. it was a feast.

*an assortment of tasty appetizers.

*papaya and mango salad.

*almost everything. more dishes kept coming
and i finally gave up. ha!

*wait! let’s get a group foto!
amber, jacqui, barry, me, debbie, sara and elise!

*the aftermath. i especially like how debbie’s got
her hand over her stomach. ha!

*bannana brulee cake with ice cream and
coconut donuts. what!

and can you believe, after that meal, i barely
zipped myself into a betty draper dress to party
at the gala!

*i’m so glad suz came to find me. it wouldn’t
be an scbwi conference if i didn’t take a foto with
suz! <3

*me with the fabulous martha and edna.

*sophie is a sweetheart. i’m proud to be her
#asianmomstandin. study hard sophie! don’t
forget to floss and, er, eat apples and carrots! =D

*also so happy the gorgeous jo came to take a foto
with me. that dress is much more stunning ON you, jo!!

*me with the radiant gracie, adam and sophie.
adam wins points by grinning very much like munchkin
right now when we ask for a foto.

*and i’ll end this post with a foto from my wonderful
rsb friends. you are all awesome and i’m so glad we got
a chance to hang out, if only for a few hours!
[debbie, elise, jill, sara, amber, jacqui and me.]

wow! i wasn’t kidding about my full day, huh?
i think i’m still recovering from it!!

i’ll leave you with a post on food in fantasy
by yours truly over at the enchanted inkpot.
also, i DO have a follow up post on san diego
comic-con international and a huge #tgifbm!
giveaway coming next monday!! stay tuned… =D

currently reading :

everlasting by angie frazier

my friend was kind enough to offer to babysit
the bubs so the love and i could go on a date night
to greens, probably our favorite restaurant in SF.
it’s in fort mason and completely vegetarian.
saturdays are set courses and that’s when we went!

i got the potato griddle cakes as a starter.

and the ravioli for the entree.

the love got a quiche type thing. that’s mushrooms on
the top!

my dessert was chocolate and hazelnut torte with
nut crunch candy.

he got the lemon meyer cheesecake. (i’m not
a fan of cheesecake!) or anything sweet made
of cream cheese (like frosting).

our sunset view. =)

it was a lovely meal and evening.
an early 13th anniversary celebration for us!
till next time…

started off monday morning with a authorly
date at tartine. met with the lovely cheryl herbsman
(Breathing) and malinda lo (Ash). we spent two hours
chatting and laughing and eating! definitely a highlight
among many fun moments during my short trip.

i jumped right into revising when i got back,
as short school days and spring break had kept
me from three hour chunks of writing time that
i love. it’s going very well and i’m excited by the
changes and improvements i’m making, with v’s
global comments and suggestions.

hoorah for sequel love!

tonight, i begin a new secret class in the name
of research. *grins*

currently reading :

the wizard heir by cinda williams chima

i had the pleasure of meeting and having a lovely
lunch with sarah. she’s living my dream life, getting
a doctorate at cambridge AND also writing historical
fiction in the elizabethan era that i REALLY want to read.
i hope some smart editor buys her novel(s) soon!!!

mmm. the english fudge stand at camden town!

camden town is one of my favorite markets!
here, diners sit on moped seats along the
camden loch. i couldn’t find the antiques section
of camden town. was searching very hard for it
to find…a tarot card reader. yes! i had a very
interesting reading by her in september 2007
about my writing career. but she wasn’t meant to
be found! boo.

and no, i don’t usually get tarot readings. my best
friend and i did it on a lark and then got scared
by how accurate she was. haha!

fruits made from marzipan in the food hall at
harrod’s! also glimpses of turkish delights–which
i always buy. i love their turkish delights!

walking from piccadilly to leicester square.

a fancy version of the english breakfast.
always a favorite indulgence while on holiday
in england! just say no to bacon! i never eat the
stuff. bleah!

and this was a foto from our last day in london.
the bubs near liverpool street station. =)

have been working diligently to prepare for our art
show in balboa park’s spanish village in mid march!

will leave you with some great links :

kirsten lesko, a fabulous critique friend, launches her
blog “sell your novel, not your soul”. she discusses all things
regarding writing and marketing yourself and your books!
click over and say hi at disobedientwriter.com!!
(can’t decide which is cooler, her tag line or her url!)

we’re trying to raise some money for YABC (young
adults book central) so it can get a much needed make
over. there’s an auction going with signed books (including
Silver Phoenix and three of my note cards of your choice!)
as well as critique of pages by authors. so check it out!!

i also interview fellow greenwillowite david macinnis gill
on his great debut, Soul Enchilada, over at the enchanted inkpot!